Loom



B. HILBERT, DECD.

l. L. HILBERT. EXECURIX.

Patented Aug. 31, 1920.

2 SHEES--SHEEI' l.

o 1.1 f Nam um www irse i STAT-Es? TNT I iii-e BAPTISTE HILBERT, OFWORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR'OF ONE-HALF rTO GEORGE H. HILBERT, 0FVVORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS; JULIE L. HILIBERT EXECUTRIX OF SAID BAPTISTEHILBERT, DECEASED.

LOOM.

specification of Lettersraeent. Patented Aug. 31, 1920.

Application filled May 19, 191,4. Serial No.7839,639.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that L-BAr'ri's'rn HILBERT, a citizen of the United States,residing at lvorcester, in-the county of Worcester and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and usefullmprovement in Looms, ofwhich the following, together with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification.

The present l invention relates particularly to carpet looms and isembodied in a new and improved shedding mechanism therefor. In thefollowing specification, I have described such a mechanism adapted toproduce a closed shed, and have illustrated such a mechanism in theaccompanying drawings, but it will be apparentthat my invention is notlimited to a closed shed loom but is equally applicable` to 'an openshed loom. l V l Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a side view of the shedding mechanism of a loom embodying myinvention, showing the parts in the Vpositions assumed when the shed isclosed. Y

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the mechanism shownin Fig. 1 showing the parts in the positions assumed when the shed'isopen.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view ofthe mechanism, showing the parts in thepositions assumed when the shed is open.` A

Fig. 4 is a detail view, in plan, tion of the mechanism, and l Fig. 5 isan enlarged side view of one of. the fastening devices for holding theharness straps.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures.

The numerals 1, 1 denote the longitudinal arches of the head ofy a loom,in which the shedding mechanism `is supported. The arches 1, 1 havejournaled therein the transverse shaft 2, which has looselyl journaledthereon a bevel gear 3f The bevel gear 3 meshes with a' bevel-gear 4carried upon the end of a vertical shaft 5 which is operativelyconnected,'by mechanism whichis not herein shown, withaiiy one ofthe'constantly rotating shafts of the loom, preferablythe crank shaft.The bevel gear 3 is connected at will with the transverse driving shaft2 by means of clutch teeth upon the hub of said bevel gear whichycooperate .with clutch of a porvteeth formed on a sliding clutch collar6,

which is splined to the shaft 2, as shown in Fig. 4. The clutchr collar6 is engaged by a fork 7 attached tov a sliding rod 8, as shown in Fig.4. The sliding rod 8 has an attached collar 9, with a spiral spring 10between said collar9 .and the adjacent arch 1, by which the clutch teethon the collar 6 are normally held in engagement with the clutch teeth onthe gear 3. Vhen it is desired to disconnect the shaft 2 from thedriving power, the rod 8 is drawn in the direction of thel arrow A bythe knob 11 on the outer end thereof, andthe free end of the pivotedlever 12, carried on thefrainework, is inserted in the space betweensaid knob and the framework, thereby holding the sliding clutch collar 6out of engagement with the gear 3, and against the tension of the spring10. Y

Y The shaft 2 carries lon vits'end a disk 14, which has an eccentriccrank pin 15 projecting therefrom. A connecting rod 16 has one Vendpivotally connected to said crank pin,

adapted upon reciprocation of said bar to impart an oscillatory movementto a transverse shaft y21, by means of a pinion 22 secured on the endlof saidshaft and having teeth coperating with said rack teeth 20L Abovethe pinion 22 is a rack 27 which is held in engagement with the pinion22 by a flanged roll 27 carried upon a stud held in the framework. Racks24 and 28,Fig. 3, are `duplicates on the opposite side of the loom ofracks 18 and 27, and said racks 2.4 and 28 engage a pinion, not shown,which is thedupliCate of pinion 22 and carriedA on the opposite end ofthe shaft 21. The rack 28 is held in engagement with its actuatingpinion by a flanged roll 28a, Fig. 3, similar `to the roll 27a. Theracks18 and 24 have eX- tending from their' ends adjustable.l rods 26,and the racks 27 and 28 have similar rods 29. Each pair of rods i126 and29 Vcarry at their outer ends rscrew threaded. adjustable members 30, towhich are attached by bolts 31 the upper and lower knife bars 32 and 33;Each knife bar extends transversely of the frame- WOrk,4 'passingthrough elongated slots 34 and 35, respectively, formed in the archmembers 1, 1.

A rod 36, extending transversely between the rarch members 1, 1, carriesloosely thereon a series of fingers 37, the free ends of which areadapted to rest either upon the bars 38 or the rolls 39 of a patternchain 40, as determined by the position of said chain. Each finger 37supports on its upper edge, near its free end, one end of a sliding ackrack 41, four of the latter being shown inthe present instance. Eachjack rack 41 has a notch 42 formed in its upper edge, for engagement bythe upper knife bar 32, and a notch 43 in its lower edge for engagementbythe lower knife bar 33. The operation of said knife bars in edectingthe reciprocation of said jack racks is as follows VVhenever the finger37 of any jack rack 41 rests upon a bar 38 of the pattern chain, saidjack rack is lowered so as to have its lower notch 443 in positionV tobe engaged by the lower knife bar 33, but its upper notch 42 is therebyremoved from the path of movement of the upper knife bar 32. Themovement of lower knife bar 33 to the left effects a movement of thejack rack in the same direction (see Fig. 2), but on the return movementof said knife bar, there is no motion imparted to the jack rack byreason of the disengagement of the knife bar with the notch. To providefor the return of the jack rack, the lower knifebar has connectedthereto a pair of forwardly extending members 44, which are screwthreaded on their outer ends and connected by a bar 45 adjustably heldbetween nuts 4 6 on either side. Upon movement of the knife bar 33 tothe right, this bar 45 engages the forward end of aforesaid jack rack41, .and also any of the other jack racksl which are in a similarforward position, to return the same to the position shown in Fig. 1. lVhen the finger 37 of any ack rack is lifted by the roll39. of thepattern chain, said jack rack is thereby lifted clear of the lower knifebar 33, and the upper notch 42 of said ack rack is brought into the pathof movement of the upper knife bar 32, as shown in Fig. 2, so that themovement of said knife bar to the right carries said ack rack to theright. The said Vjack rack is returned to its central position by theengagep ment with its rear 'end of thebar 47, carried, similarly to thebar 45, on rearwardly extending members 48 supported by the upper knifebar. f y

Each jack rack 41 has rack teeth 50 formed onV its upper edge. A fixedshaft 51 has loosely ournaled thereon a seriesof segmental gears 52, onefor each jack rack, and the teeth of said gears mesh with the rack teethon the respective ack racks so that theV movement of said jack racks isutilized to impart oscillatory movement to said gears. The Jack racksare held in engagement with the gears 52 by rolls on a shaft 41adirectly beneath the shaft 51. Each gear 52 is vprovided with a crankarm 53 having rtwo or more holes in its outer end to providefor thepivotal connection thereto of a vcurved link 54 by which said arm'isrconnected with the upright arm of a harness j ack 55, pivoted on Yashaft 56, whichv forms the pivotal .support for a series of such harnessjacks, in the present Vinstance four inr number, to correspond with thenumber of jack racks and harness frames. Each harness jack 55 is adaptedfor the actuation of one of the harness frames 57 of the loom. To thisend each harness frame 57 has secured to its upper side one or morefastening devices 58, one of which is shown, enlarged, in Fig. 5. Thefastening device comprises a substantially flat oval frame, provided onone end with a cylindrical boss 59 having a longitudinal apertureopeninginto the space inclosed by saidjframe. A rod 60 passes looselythrough said aperture, being provided on its inner end with a screw.thread to receive a pair of adjusting nuts 61. At its outer end said rod60 is flattened, and is split a short distance Alongitudinally toprovide for the insertion of theend of the harness strap 62, which, inthe present instance, takes the form of a flat steel ribbon, the end ofwhich is securely riveted in place. A compressed spiral spring 63encircling said rod 60 has one end firmly secured to the end of said rodand the other end lirmly secured to the boss 59. In Fig. 1 I have showntwo fastening devices suitably secured to the upper side of one of theharness .frames 57, The strap 62 from one of said devices is carriedover a pulley 64, and the strap from the other is carried over a pulley65 and under the pulley 64, both of said pulleys being journaled onfixed shafts carried between the arches. Said straps are joined togetherbeyond said pulleys and attached to a common fastening device 66,similar in all respects to the fastening dev iceV 58. Fig. 5. Eachfastening device 66 is adapted to have its end pivotally attached to theupper end of the corresponding harness jack 55, the latter beingprovided with a series of holes 67 whereby the distance of saidconnection from the pivotal center of said jack may be varied, to varyt-he movement of the harness frame asV desired. Each harness frame isconnected in the usual and well known manner with the opposite or lowerends of kthe harness jacks lVhen the harness frames have been attachedto their respective harness jacks, any lost motion may be taken up andthe strap connections drawn taut by screwing up the nuts 61 and drawing'the rods 60 throughthe bosses 59, against Vthe tension of the springs63.

The pattern chain 40 is supported upon a rotating barrel 68, carriedupon a shaft 69` and driven from the shaft 2 by means of intermeshinggears 70 and 71 carriedv -by said shafts. T he shaft 69 of the patternchain can be rotated by hand'to set kthe pattern chain by disconnectin0rthe shaft 2 from the driving'power and-rotating it by means of the handwheel 72, Fig-4. f

ri'he mechanism above described for imparting motion to the harnessframes of the loom presentsA many advantages over the sheddingmechanisms heretofore employed. The knife bars, instead of beingactuated by links attached to the ends of a rocking arm as is usual inlooms of this class, are driven by the rack bars whichr derive theirreciprocation directly from a crank on the shaft 2, and are constrainedto move Yin parallel planes, thereby insuring a Smooth and uniformmotion for said knives. Also the motion 'of the knives is imparted tothe'harness jacks by means of racksyso that the jerks and strains whichare common to other types of harness motions are effectuallyelim-inated. The period of dwell of the harness frames in the openposition of the shed may be determined to a nicety by the longitudinaladjustment' of the bars 45 and 47 on their respective supporting members44 and 48, as will be readily apparent. rlhe curved links 54 allow thecrank arms 53 to pass below the centers of the gears at each oscillationof the gears. rlhe provision of a plurality of pivot holes forconnecting the links to the gears furnishes a means for adjusting thethrow of the harness frames, as does also the provision of the series ofpivot holes in the ends of the harness jacks.

T he fingers 37 interposed between the pattern chain and the several ackracks, insure a firm and extended bearing for the edges of said racks,which is superior to the supporting of said racks directly upon the barsand rolls of the chain.

The employment of steel ribbons, in lieu of the leather' strapsordinarily used for connecting the harness frames to the harness jacks,provides connections which are entirely free from stretching and,consequently, the need for frequent adjustment is eliminated. Thefastening devices 58 and 66 furnish a ready means of adjustment, bytaking up on the nuts 61. Furthermore, the springs 63 serve to eliminateall lost motion or jar in the harness frames when the direction ofmovement of the la ter is changing.

vWhile 1 have shown and described a har-A ness motion-for a closed shedloom, it will be obvious that my invention is not limited to such, butmay be employed with equally advantageous results in an open shed loom.The differences, in construction and operation of the latter type overthe former do not affect the essential elements of the presentinvention.l

The operation of the mechanism above described is as followsr-Therotation of shaft -2 and crank disk 14 will impart a reciprocatingmotion to the knife bars 32 and' 33 by means of their interposed gears,moving 'them from'a central positionV as shown in Fig. 1, when the shedis closed, to the Y positions shown 'in F ig. 2, when the shed is open;At each movement of the knife bars into their-central position, the jackracks which have been vpreviously vmoved into the positions shown inFig. 3, are pushed into a central position by the bars and 47. At thenextmovement of the knife bars from the position shown in Fig. 1 tothatl shown A vin Figs. 2 and 3, the-j ack racks which have been raisedby the pattern chain are' engaged by the upper knife bar 32,and thosewhich have not been raised will be engaged by the lower knife bar 33,causing all the warp threads to be either raised or loweredand formingan opened shed. rllhe notches 42 engaged jack rack before the contact ofthe pushing bar. V'This provides a more secure engagement by the knifebars and the lost motion of the pushing bars 45 and 47 is not 1sufficient to prevent the practical closing of the shed.

I claim:

1. In a loom shedding mechanism, a pair of horizontally reciprocatingrack bars on opposite sides of the machine, a crank ournaledsubstantially in the plane of and operatively connected with one of saidrack bars, means for continuously rotating said crank, a shaft extendingtransversely across the machine between said rack bars, gears attachedto the opposite ends of said shaft engaging said rack bars, upper andlower knife bars adjustably attached to said rack bars, jack racksengaging said knife bars to move the jack racks in either direction froma central position, and means for returning the jack bars to a centralposition independently of their engagement by the knife bars. i

2. In a loom shedding mechanism, a series of jack racks operativelyconnected with the harness frames of a loom, an upper and a lower knifebar, means for reciprocating said knife bars toward andk away from acentra]` position, means for engaging said jack racks by said knife barsto move the former ineither direction from a central position, and meansfor returning said ack racks to a central position independently oftheir engagement with said knife bars.

of jack racks, an upper and a lower knife Y bar,rmeans for reciprocatingthe knife `bars in opposite directions to and fromY a central position,undercut notches on said ack racks for engaging said knife bars, barsabutting the ends of said ack racks to return'the jack racks to acentral position, said abutting bars being spaced from the jack racks topermit the release of their undercut notches from the knife bars, andmeans for moving said abutting bars to return the jack racks to theircentral position. y

4. In a loom shedding mechanism, a series of jack racks, reciprocating`knife bars for moving said jack racks in opposite directions from acentral position, means for actuating said knife bars, bars attached tosaid knife bars and arranged to abut against the ends of said jack racksand return vthem to a central position. Y

Va pair of bars adjustably connected Withv said knife bars for reversingthe movement of said Jack racks, When said knife bars are reversed inmovement.

Dated this iifteenth day of May, 1914-.

BAPTISTE HILBERT.

